Tesla and Amazon are building the workforce a 1921 play imagined: One that never asks for a wage

In January 1921, the Czech playwright Karel Čapek's play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) debuted in Prague, introducing the term "robot" into the lexicon – derived from the Czech word for forced labor. These robots, as depicted, were mass-produced humans grown in vats, stripped of wages, rights, and will. The play, essentially an economics drama, explored a world of a workforce that never tires, strikes, or demands a wage – a tantalizing vision of capitalism's dream and nightmare.

Over a century later, reality has begun to mirror the play's eerie vision. Agility Robotics, the creator of the Digit robot, went public last month after merging with Churchill Capital Corp XI, boasting over $300 million in committed orders from Amazon, GXO, Schaeffler, and Toyota's Canadian arm. Tesla is also pursuing humanoid robotics with its Optimus project, now in production on a former car assembly line in Fremont.

Meanwhile, OpenAI has integrated its robotics efforts into its primary research, developing its own humanoid designed for a 2027 debut. The rise of these advanced machines raises pertinent questions about labor, economy, and society.